Photos: 20 talented, beautiful women of the London 2012 Olympics

Juanita Ng, Vancouver Sun11.06.2012

As we head into London 2012, it’s a given that there would be interest in the glamourous female athletes of the Olympics. Keep clicking through our gallery to see Photos: The sexiest female athletes of London 2012. (Athlete details from Wikipedia.)'
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Stephanie Rice, swimming, Australia

Stephanie Rice currently holds the world record in the 400-metre women's individual medley, and won three gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Click on the next photo to see her recent FHM spread.'
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Stephanie Rice, swimming, Australia

In September 2010, Rice came under fire when she made a remark that was considered homophobic on Twitter following a Rugby Union match in which the Australian Wallabies defeated the South African Springboks. Rice's Twitter message said ‘Suck on that faggots!’ Rice later removed the remark and apologized for it; however, Rice's sponsor Jaguar severed all ties with her and requested the return of a loan vehicle. Rice is shown here in her spread in FHM magazine.'
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Josefine Oqvist, soccer, Sweden

Josefine Oqvist was a member of the Sweden team that won a bronze medal at the 2011 World Cup. She's as tough as nails on the soccer field, but click the next photo to see a shot from one of Oqvist's magazine shoots.File photo
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Josefine Oqvist, soccer, Sweden

During the 2011 World Cup, video of Oqvist changing jerseys with and kissing a German male fan after the match with North Korea became a very popular YouTube hit.'
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Allyson Felix, track and field, USA

Allyson Felix is a two-time Olympic silver medalist at the 200 meters, as well as an Olympic gold medalist, winning gold at the Beijing 2008 Olympics as a member of the United States' women's 4 x 400 meters team.'
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Allyson Felix, track and field, USA

She recently signed a six-figure, six-year endorsement contract with Nike that was negotiated by her father.'
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Besides playing field hockey, the stunning de Melo has a master’s degree in law, sings, hosts TV shows and belongs to Team PokerStars: Sportstars on the PokerStars online poker card room.'
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Jessica Ennis, heptathlon, Great Britain

Jessica Ennis is the current European and former World heptathlon champion, and the former world indoor pentathlon champion. She is the current British national record holder for both the heptathlon and the indoor pentathlon.'
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Jessica Ennis, heptathlon, Great Britain

Ennis was recently in the news when a senior UK Athletics official asserted that the 2012 Olympics heptathlon hopeful was ‘fat’ and carrying ‘too much weight’. Ennis is five-foot-five and weighs 126 pounds.File photo
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Francesca Piccinini, volleyball, Italy

Francesca Piccinini has represented Italy three times (2000, 2004, and 2008) at the Summer Olympics. She has won numerous championships but never an Olympics medal.'
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Francesca Piccinini, volleyball, Italy

Piccinini was inspired to become a professional volleyball player by the classic anime Attack No. 1 which in Italy was shown on TV in the 1980s. In 2004 she appeared naked in a calendar published by the Italian magazine Men's Health.'
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Daniela Hantuchova, tennis, Slovakia

In 2005, Daniela Hantuchova became the fifth female tennis player to win the mixed doubles title in all four Grand Slam tournaments during her career. Hantuchova is ranked World No. 29 in singles.File photo
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Daniela Hantuchova, tennis, Slovakia

Hantuchova speaks three languages (Slovak, English, and German), and was trained as a classical pianist.'
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Caroline Wozniacki, tennis, Denmark

Caroline Wozniacki is a former world No. 1 on the WTA Tour. As of Jan. 23, 2012, she held this position for 67 weeks. She is the first Scandinavian woman to hold the top ranking position and 20th overall.File photo
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Caroline Wozniacki, tennis, Denmark

According to Forbes, in 2011 Wozniacki was the second-highest earning female athlete in the world. She is currently dating professional golfer Rory McIlroy. In June 2012, she announced the fall launch of her signature underwear collection.'
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Aly Raisman, gymnastics, USA

Aly Raisman began gymnastics as a toddler when her mother Lynn, a former high school gymnast, put her in a ‘Mommy & Me’ class at 18 months of age.File photo
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Aly Raisman, gymnastics, USA

In April, at the age of 17, she signed an endorsement deal with GK Elite Sportswear.'
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Melanie Adams, pole vault, Australia

Melanie Adams has been pole vaulting since she was 11 and has won two under-age titles.'
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Melanie Adams, pole vault, Australia

Adams has aspirations to be a model and was a finalist in the 2006 Miss Teen Australia pageant. She hopes to enter the Miss Universe pageant in the future.'
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Darya Klishina, track and field, Russia

Darya Igorevna Klishina is a Russian long jumper. She holds the Russian junior record with 7.03 m, the all-time second best junior mark.'
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Darya Klishina, track and field, Russia

Klishina recently signed with Seiko to represent their products. ‘We have been watching her develop as an athlete since, at 16 she won at the IAAF World Youth Championships, where we timekeep,’ said Kirsten Clifford, Seiko’s UK marketing manager. ‘We believe she is a rising star, as well as beautiful, and we are taking a chance that the Olympics will prove us right.’'
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Lolo Jones, track and field, USA

Lolo Jones was favoured to win the 100-metre hurdles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but she tripped on the penultimate hurdle, finishing in seventh place.'
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Lolo Jones, track and field, USA

Earlier this year Jones, 29, revealed in an HBO interview she is a virgin, dates online, and struggles to maintain her virginity. She said ‘If there’s virgins out there, I’m going to let them know, it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life — harder than training for the Olympics, harder than graduating from college, has been to stay a virgin before marriage.’'
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Perdita Felicien, hurdles, Canada

In 2007, Perdita Felicien won a silver medal at the world championships in the 100-metre hurdles. She was unable to compete in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing due to a foot injury.File photo
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Perdita Felicien, hurdles, Canada

Felicien’s mother named her Perdita after a contestant on the television game show, The Price is Right.'
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Mary Spencer, boxer, Canada

Mary Spencer has won three World Championships, five Pan American Games gold medals, and eight Canadian Championships.'
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Mary Spencer, boxer, Canada

Women's boxing will be part of the Olympic Games program for the first time in London in 2012. Spencer is considered a medal favourite, and one of Canada's best hopes in women's boxing.'
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Leryn Franco, javelin, Paraguay

Leryn Franco specializes in the javelin throw and became an Internet sensation during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.'
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Leryn Franco, javelin, Paraguay

Franco is perhaps more famous for her beauty than athletic ability, however, and has appeared, most notably, in the 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.'
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Hope Solo, soccer, USA

Hope Solo plays for the Seattle Sounders Women team. Solo has also played for the United States women's national soccer team since 2000.'
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Hope Solo, soccer, USA

Solo’s father Jeffrey, of Italian descent who grew up in the Bronx, was a sometimes-homeless Vietnam War veteran. It was Jeffrey who taught Solo how to play soccer.'
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Maria Sharapova, tennis, Russia

Maria Sharapova is ranked world No. 1 and is the only Russian player in the top 10.File photo
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Maria Sharapova, tennis, Russia

Sharapova has been featured in a number of magazines, notably in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. In 2006, she was Forbes magazine’s highest-paid female athlete in the world, with annual earnings of over $18 million US, the majority of which was from endorsements and sponsorships. She has topped that list every year since, even after her 2007 shoulder injury.'
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Natalie Coughlin, swimming, USA

Natalie Coughlin is an 11-time Olympic medallist. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Coughlin became the first American female athlete in modern Olympic history to win six medals in one Olympics and the first woman ever to win a 100-metre backstroke gold in two consecutive Olympics.'
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Natalie Coughlin, swimming, USA

Coughlin appeared in the 2012 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue wearing only body paint. She competed in Season 9 of Dancing with the Stars; she was eliminated on the fifth episode.'
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Niki Gudex, mountain biking, Australia

In addition to being a professional mountainbiker, Niki Gudex is also a model and a graphic designer.'
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Niki Gudex, mountain biking, Australia

In the Australian edition of FHM magazine, Gudex has been listed in the 100 Sexiest Women in the World in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006.'
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Ana Ivanovic, tennis, Serbia

Ana Ivanovic is a former world no. 1 Serbian tennis player. She is currently No. 14 on WTA rankings. Ivanovic endorsed Nike apparel and shoes at the beginning of her professional career, but at the beginning of 2006 switched to rival Adidas. Ivanovic then signed a lifetime contract with the company. Ivanovic will become an ambassador for Adidas once she retires from competitive tennis. She is believed to be the youngest athlete, male or female, to sign a contract of such longevity.'
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As we head into London 2012, it’s a given that there would be interest in the glamourous female athletes of the Olympics. So talented, so gorgeous – and, in many cases, so rich – it’s no wonder these women are in the spotlight.

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